Note 67 — Memoir (continued 2)

Horse breeding surely promises good results as stated in the annexed Memoir. I visited the islands De Twee Gebroeders, and saw about 200 foals of one, two, and three years old. I had some caught with nooses, and they proved to be of good build and of fairly good race. On the island of Delft there are no less than 400 or 500 foals. Many of those on the islands De Twee Gebroeders will soon be large enough to be captured and trained, when 15 animals, or three teams, must be sent to Colombo to serve for the carriages with four horses in which it is customary to receive the Kandyan ambassadors and courtiers. They must be good animals, and as much as possible alike in colour. At present we have only ten of these horses, many of which are too old and others very unruly, so that they are almost useless. Besides these, 15 riding horses are required for the service of the Company in Colombo and Galle, as not a single good saddle horse is to be found in either of these Commandements. Besides these, 25 or 30 horses must be sent for sale to private persons by public auction, which I trust will fetch a good deal more than Rds. 25 or 35, as they do in Coromandel. The latter prices are the very lowest at which the animals are to be sold, and none must be sold in private, but always by public auction. This, I am sure, will be decidedly in the interest of the Company and the fairest way of dealing. I would further recommend that, as soon as possible, a stable should be built on the islands De Twee Gebroeders like that in Delft, or a little smaller, where the animals could be kept when captured until they are a little tamed, as they remain very wild for about two months. Next to this stable a room or small house should be built for the Netherlander to whom the supervision is entrusted. At present this person, who is moreover married, lives in a kind of Hottentot’s lodging, which is very unseemly. The Dessave must see that the inhabitants of the island Delft are forbidden to cultivate cotton, and that the cotton trees now found there are destroyed; because the number of horses is increasing rapidly. The Dessave noticed only lately that large tracts of land of two, three, and more miles are thus cultivated, in direct opposition to the Company’s orders. It seems they are not satisfied to be allowed to increase the number of their cattle by thousands, all of which have to derive their food from the island as well as the Company’s horses, but they must also now cultivate cotton, which cannot be tolerated and must be strictly prohibited. Once the horses perished for want of water; on one occasion they were shot on account of crooked legs; and it would be gross carelessness if now they had to perish by starvation.